


About Promises And Lists

by Mycroffed



Series: I love you, brother dear [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Holmes Brothers' Childhood, Part three of a trilogy, TW: Drugs, Younger!Mycroft - Freeform, younger!Sherlock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7713253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycroffed/pseuds/Mycroffed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer was Mycroft's favourite season.</p>
<p>Once again, Sherlock is nowhere to be found when Mycroft comes home, but he knows where to find him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	About Promises And Lists

Summer was Mycroft's favourite season. Or at least it used to be. Throughout the years, so much had happened that the idea of summer had been tainted by the memories. Both Sherlock and he had grown up now, no longer bound to the school holidays during the summer to see one another. (In fact, Mycroft kept a constant eye on his brother, who had started to use drugs. Of course he had gone through that faze as well, the search for something that would calm down his mind, but Sherlock seemed to have taken it much further. While the Iceman seemed to have found a drug in work, the detective actually preferred real drugs and the high that they brought, especially since his work didn't give him a constant high.)

 

   It was summer once more and Sherlock had gone missing. Mycroft had just returned from a mission abroad, only to be welcomed by the news that his brother had disappeared and that his parents had no idea where he had gone. They had already contacted the police and a young officer called Gregory Lestrade was on the case. (Mycroft knew that the man wouldn't find Sherlock, that it was impossible for him to look in every single drugs den. Because the younger Holmes could be anywhere - at least, if you didn't know where to look.)

 

   Mycroft did. As soon as he got off the plane, he practically ran out towards the car, already typing away on his phone, informing his superiors that he needed to find the boy before he could come in and debrief. He then moved on to telling his driver all the different places his brother liked to frequent.

 

   The first three places were empty (and with that he meant that Sherlock wasn't there, but plenty of other addicts were there) but they were lucky when they got to the fourth. Mycroft immediately spotted the familiar shape of his brother in the corner of one of the rooms and he immediately rushed over, kneeling down next to him. He didn't care about his suit, he didn't care about any of it but Sherlock.

 

   He ran a hand through his brother's hair, letting him know that he was there before he got comfortable. He would allow Sherlock to ride out his high before he took him back home, no matter how long that would take. And they would no doubt argue later, when they were both back home and safe. (In the time that it took for Sherlock to come down, Mycroft debriefed on the phone and arranged for him to take a few days off due to personal reasons. It wasn't as if he took a lot of days off and when he did, they were rather forced.)

 

   Eventually, Sherlock seemed to become aware of the world around him again and looked up, only to see a furious Mycroft sitting there. Without saying a word, the older brother hauled him on his back and carried him out of the place, down the stairs and dropped him into the car that was waiting to bring them home.

 

   Once they were both sitting into the car, Mycroft took a long good look at his younger brother. His hair looked horrible and messy, his clothes were dirty and lived in, which wasn't so unusual for Sherlock - sometimes he wore the same clothes for a full week, but most of the time Mummy forced him to change.

 

   He took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Sherlock's baritone interrupted him.

 

   "Don't."

 

   "You don't even know what I'm going to say." Mycroft sounded disapproving of this interruption. Sherlock was his baby brother, he needed to learn to listen to him. After all, when it came to drugs, Mycroft knew best.

 

   "I do. You're going to tell me how irresponsible it was to disappear and how I let Mummy and Father down. You're going to tell me exactly how long you've been looking for me. You're going to tell me the name of the police officer who has no doubt wasted his time looking for me. Just don't, Mycroft."

 

   The older Holmes just shook his head. "I have already accepted that you will keep doing this, Sherlie-" The other scowled at him when he used that name, which made him smirk. "-But at least promise me something."

 

   Sherlock finally looked over at Mycroft, surprise written all over his face, which was refreshing after all the condescending looks he always got from his brother. "What do I need to promise you?" He said, very careful, and making it sure that he wouldn't promise anything if he didn't believe in it.

 

   "Next time, make a list."

 

   For a moment, all Sherlock did was blink and stare - he did his best goldfish impression - but eventually, he nodded, agreeing with Mycroft. "Okay." He whispered before turning back to stare out of the windown.

 

   "And you're coming to Mummy with me."

 

   And that was when Sherlock exploded.

 

 

 

\--~--

 

 

 

It took a while before Sherlock had calmed down enough to bring him inside the house, where their mother rushed over and treated Sherlock like a little boy. She treated his wounds, forced him to drink tea and have a decent meal, and eventually she tucked him into bed, all without even mentioning the drugs. She was too happy to have her missing son back in her arms. The real conversation would come tomorrow, when she would yell at him.

 

   And Mycroft would make sure that he was long gone by then.

 

   In fact, as soon as Sherlock was tucked in, he started to collect his stuff and made his way towards the door, only to be stopped by their father. He tensed up for a moment - they hadn't always been able to get along - but the smile told him that he had done something good.

 

   "Thank you." He said softly as he patted Mycroft's shoulder. "You have done something good today."

 

   "He is my baby brother, Father. I have promised myself that I would take care of him the first time I held him in my arms. Of course I found him." Mycroft tried his best not to roll his eyes at his father, because what he was saying was the stupidest thing ever.

 

   "We had hoped that Sherlock would be like you, that he would have a drugs phase but move on once he had a job. But it appears that that isn't the case with him. He is twenty now, Mike, and he is still on the drugs."

 

   "We will find something he will stay sober for, Father." Or someone. It was only a matter of time before someone would be able to break through Sherlock's shell. "Now, I really have to go arrange things at work. I will come and check on him again tomorrow."

 

   "Of course, son." His father smiled at him. "I will see you again tomorrow."

 

   Mycroft nodded as he walked out of the Holmes family home, straight into the car. "Bring me home, Joshua." He told his driver. "Bring me somewhere no family will bother me."

 

 

 

\--~--

 

 

 

 

The months went on like that and every time Mycroft was called because Sherlock had disappeared again, he found him within a few hours with a list on his person at all time. He knew that Sherlock thought that he threw away all the lists that he had gathered over those few months, but in fact, he kept them all. Every single one.

 

   He couldn't bring himself to throw away the lists for the same reason that he kept an eye on his brother: he loved him. He was the only person in his life he had ever loved unconditionally.

 

   One day, Sherlock would realise just how much his brother loved him. One day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this. I had a lot of Holmes Brothers feelings, so I decided to write this. This is the last one I will write on this topic, so I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Thanks again for reading it.


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